During semiconductor wafer fabrication, radiation, such as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light or an electron beam, can be utilized in a lithographic process to form very small patterns, such as nanometer-scale patterns, on a semiconductor wafer. In EUV lithography, for example, a pattern formed on an EUV lithographic mask can be transferred to a semiconductor wafer by exposing a photoresist formed on the semiconductor wafer to EUV light reflected from the lithographic mask. However, to form an effective photoresist pattern using a low intensity radiation, such as EUV light, the sensitivity of the photoresist generally has to be increased.
In a conventional method, acid-based catalysis has been utilized in EUV lithography to increase the sensitivity of the photoresist to exposure to EUV light. However, inability to adequately control acid diffusion, as well as other problems, limits the effectiveness of acid-based catalysis in providing photoresist patterns having sufficient resolution and contrast, particularly for small pattern dimensions.